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Call of the Void Wiki
Call of the Void: Ballad of the Laser Whales is an alternate setting originally proposed for Song of Swords, but now has its own system. It has been characterized as a weird hybrid of Warhammer 40k, Spelljammer, Treasure Planet and Das Boot, with some ties to Tattered Realmshttp://tattered-realms.wikia.com/: It's set in the future with considerable influence from science fiction. The setting revolves around industrial-era dystopias battle it out in a surreal voidscape through which habitable islands drift. Laser Whales contain the oil by which many things are powered and from which mystical traditions are derived. and it's not really designed to be easily accessible since the assumption is that most people will go to the main fantasy version first. Furthermore, the system is designed as a complement; while Song of Swords is designed primarily around combat wherein guns where not the primary weapon of war, Ballad is designed around the time periods where they are. That said, Tattered Realms is not strictly required reading, but many of the references (Zells, Sahaquiel, etc) may be lost upon newcomers. The setting is also rife with kitschy sci-fi references, including playful jabs at The Culture series, Sid Meiers' Alpha Centauri, the Valkyria Chronicles games, and (possibly) Killzone. Call of the Void has been described as "a game about ideology," with great emphasis placed on the rationales behind geopolitical entities' crimes against humanity and peace, on all sides, giving the PCs reasons to be "fleeing" from these entities to the freedom of the Void, for various reasons. The PCs are generally supposed to be pirates, privateers, outlaws, or other such men of the sea, beyond the usual reach of law, and so the nations of the world make up backstory, environment, and antagonist for many adventures. Concept The universe is a great, endless plane of vacuum, gas, and swirling energy. There is an up and a down in this void. There is gravity that pulls inexorably downwards towards the "Dark Space," (or Underspace) a place that many believe to be hell itself, and away from "The Heavens," (or Overspace) in which can be seen stars and moons, as well as a great number of "eyes" that might be stars. Or, is it stars that might be eyes? Islands float in the void, kept aloft by Voidstone (Moonstone?) a kind of mineral that resists gravity. People have learned to use this mineral to create Voidships, which can traverse the space between the islands. Over the centuries, great advancements in technology and shipcraft have allowed the countless islands of the Void to establish trade, communication, and political relationships between them. All of this relies on the Voidships, which rely on Voidstone. And voidstone is increasingly rare as time goes on. But now, a new energy source has been discovered: The Laser Whales. Great beasts that emerge from the Dark Space below, the Laser Whales are terrible in size, scope, and hunger. They have the ability to project lasers from their heads, with tremendous destructive force. The oil harvested from their bodies possesses the same buoyant qualities as Voidstone, as well as having countless other great uses. An entire industry has sprung up around venturing into the Void to hunt Laser Whales for their delicious Laser Whale Oil. Some Laser Whalers venture too close to the Dark Space in their hunts, and return changed, poisoned by the dark forces of the abyss. Some come into contact with foul entities from beyond space and time, and come to serve them in attempting to bring down the upper world, and sink the islands into the darkness. Adventure In the aftermath of The Second War of Containment, millions of people have fled the Core Islands to the Periphery, seeking freedom from the oppression and violence of the old world. The Periphery is anarchy, and most of the colonies there are only loyal to their home governments on paper--if at all. Pirates and local alliances rule, and great swathes of uncharted territory, some containing the ruins of ancient civilizations lay ripe for exploration. A new breed of free men have emerged: Outlaws. Not criminals, explicitly, but explorers, mercenaries and adventurers who reject citizenship of any of the oppressive Great Powers, instead seeking their fortunes in the Void far beyond the limits of national authority. Outlaws have their own code of honor, but ultimately the only rights any man has in the dark are those he can protect with fire and steel. The major powers in the Periphery are the Qin Pirate Guilds, the Blue Ring Alliance, and the Commerce League. The Great Powers Sacred Chiron The Hive, The Confederation of Independent Straits, and The United Culture are the four major powers in the Void. Each of them have an expanding sphere of influence that is steadily bringing them into conflict with each other. There are also the Rahoo, a distant island-chain of great size that is fractured by civil wars, but produce many weapons in use across The Void. Religions The Zells keep their own gods, the Seven, though many of them are a bit irritated at the lack of water in the Void, and some have even rejected their own deities out of disappointment, and abandoned their lives at sea to live on land. Or, what's left of the land. The Albish worship "God," or Genosus, but they have no concept of him as the sun anymore. There is a degree of consensus between the Albish and the Chironic churches that Genosus and Sahaquiel are the same entity, known by different names. The Albish and the Zells both came from Underspace, and so did Sahaquiel, if the stories are true. Sahaquiel Twelvehands Sahaquiel Twelvehands, or Sahaquiel "Sky-Shatterer" was a mythic figure "the size of the sky" who swept out of Underspace in primeval times, tearing up the fabric of empty space and creating the islands, the stars, and the moons. Chironites under the influence of Babel Tar claim to have seen this event in visions, and their religion revolves around awaiting the return of Sahaquiel. A strange feature of this deity is that those prophets who have seen him and attempted to describe him in anything but the broadest terms, or draw or paint him, have had their fingers suddenly and spontaneously broken by some invisible force. As such, the Chironites believe strongly that attempting to visually depict their deity is a sin. They sometimes apply this to other powerful figures seen as "godly," like Kyton von Richtofen, and more recently Hermann Sternfleischer, who are never depicted from the front – only standing away from the viewer, often making some sign of leadership. 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